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Shi Yunsen (center) is the appointed British Consul General in Chongqing.
Stephen Ellison, the 61-year-old British consul general in Chongqing, was walking along a river in a small town in Chongqing on Saturday (November 14) when he found a 24-year-old girl falling into the water.
Video taken by witnesses showed the woman struggling in the rough water first and then disappearing under the footbridge. Soon after, he floated upside down in the water, seemingly losing consciousness.
Shi Yunsen took off his shoes and jumped into the water to rescue him. He turned the girl over, raised her head out of the water, and swam back toward the steep shore.
“He lost consciousness and did not breathe. For a while, we were all worried about the worst. But when we got back to shore, he started breathing again,” Swinson told the BBC.
As Swanson rescued him, passersby on shore threw a lifeline with ropes at him. He sent the girl to safety, then swam to the shallow rocky beach and came ashore. The grateful villagers gave him dry clothes and hot drinks.
Shi Yunsen said the Wuhan student currently studying at Chongqing University was shocked by the experience of falling into the water and is currently recovering.
The student thanked him very much and invited him to have dinner with her family next weekend.
On the 16th, the British embassy in China tweeted that everyone was “very proud” of the actions of Consul Swinson of Chongqing.
The British Consulate General in Chongqing also issued an announcement on the same day that Shi Yunsen expressed his gratitude for the care given to him by the villagers.
Swinson of Newcastle is currently the designated consul general of the British Consulate in Chongqing, and his main responsibility in Chongqing is to support China-UK bilateral trade cooperation.
Swinson has lived and worked in China for 9 years. Before joining the British Embassy in China in 2014, he worked as an engineer in a company.
He reportedly won the age group championship at the Beijing International Triathlon last year and loves skiing, cycling and other sports.
“In China we call him a hero”
Kerry Allen, BBC China Media Analyst
In the past year, Sino-British relations have deteriorated rapidly due to disputes over issues such as Hong Kong, the technology company Huawei, and the new corona epidemic.
However, Swinson received high praise on Chinese social media. Because he saved the student who allegedly fell into the water while taking pictures, netizens praised him as a “hero”, “model”, and “admirable” person. He is also called “uncle”, which is rarely used to describe foreigners.
“In the UK, you would call him a gentleman; in China we call him a hero,” said one Weibo user.
“Such an important official went into the water to save people … We like those people,” wrote another netizen.
After this video filmed by a local mobile phone was published on the Internet by the official media “Global Times” and “Pear Video”, it has been viewed more than 1 million times. This also allowed the locals to reflect on how they view foreigners.
Despite recent negative sentiment towards the UK, many Chinese said they were “shocked” by “so many (local) people watching, but no one has come to help themselves.”
Such a scene is not uncommon in China: a group of people were watching when the incident occurred. Many people worry that hasty participation could lead to their participation. In places where similar things have happened before, many people have debated whether there is a “moral” problem in China.
The new British ambassador to China, Caroline Wilson, recorded a video during the quarantine at the official residence in Beijing, sharing her experience in Chinese throughout the process.
